


Lakeside Murder

by TGIntentX



Series: Honesty Is All I Need From You [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Bat Family, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Family Fluff, M/M, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-28 18:26:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8457157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TGIntentX/pseuds/TGIntentX
Summary: Dick and Jason goes on their first vacation together, but their break from crime-fighting doesn't last long. When the duo encounters a corpse, their peaceful days are numbered as a mysterious stranger appears seeking their help. As more unexpected visitors appear, it would seemed that one of their own might be the killer's next victim. With a lot of skill and a little bit of luck, will Dick and Jason be able to save the day before another life is lost?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Have you ever had a headcannon that starts as something of a good idea and it suddenly becomes so huge that you want to get it out? Well this is the result. The fic is based on a popular shounen-ai manga FAKE by Sanami Matoh you don't need to read the manga to know the fic but I encourage you to read it if you are interested. Will be putting more tags as this story progresses so as not to ruin the story. Enjoy.

“We're almost there Jason.”

Jason catches his breath. He adjusted his backpack as he continues with Dick hiking to wherever they are going.

“Its about time. Why the hell do we have to trek all the way from the parking lot to get there?” Jason complained.

“Oh come on Jason, its not that bad,” said Dick with a smile. They are walking through the woods on their way to the inn. “I like the exercise and the fresh air.”

“Yeah, unlike Gotham with its air pollution and crime,” Jason grimace from the feeling of wet soil as he continues. “Which I'm starting to prefer right about now...”

Dick ignores Jason as he continues leading the way. Had Jason known they would be hiking, he would have worn something much more comfortable or more fitting for the occasion. It'll be hard to clean the dirt off of his favorite sneakers with this amount of walking they are doing. Wet soil be damn.

“There it is!” Dick exclaimed, pointing to the castle-like inn.

“Ugh finally.”

“Don't be like that, its actually a popular place,” Dick said. “A lot of people would be coming here during the winter time because its cheap and close to the ski-resort. And its also a perfect place to spend time here during the summer.”

“But since its off season, we pretty much get the whole place to ourselves,” Dick finishes as they enter the building.

A bald man in a suit behind the front desk greets the two men coming into the lobby. Dick goes to the front desk as Jason sits on one of the couches in the lobby, taking a break from hiking up the hill to get here.

“Hello, I have a reservation under Richard Grayson.”

“We've been expecting you,” the man said. “I thought the reservation is for three.”

“Um, yeah. Sorry about that,” Dick apologized. “Something happened at the last minute and one of our own couldn't make it.”

“That’s fine, I will cancel that reservation for you,” the man said, writing the changes into the check-in book as Dick thank him

“I am the owner of this establishment, Victor Fries,” the man introduces. “If you need anything at all, please feel free to give me a ring. You will be staying in rooms 206 and 207, gentlemen.” He gives two room keys to Dick.

“Thank you very much,” said Dick.

He motioned Jason to follow him upstairs to drop off their luggage. It's great that both he and Jason get their vacation at the same time. And its a good change of pace getting away from the city to relax. But-

“Wow, there's a lake behind the hotel. What a great view,” Jason commented.

Dick looks out the window and agreed. The view is perfect with the hills rolling as far as the eye can see and the lake simmering from where the light touches just below them. Mountains just beyond the hills, perfect place to go for the winter.

“In the winter time, many people come to skate here on the lake since its much sturdier than all the other lakes in this area” said Dick as he turns to Jason. “Why don't we go there later after we settle down?”

Jason makes an agreeing sound as they continue to their rooms.

“Damian should have come with us, he would have love it here,” said Dick with a thoughtful expression. “But I wonder why he changed his mind at the last minute? He was so excited too...”

Dick turns to Jason who was looking at the other way, trying not to draw attention to himself. “Did he say anything to you, Jason?” Dick asks.

“Huh?! Um...n-nope,” Jason answers. “We could always come here again next time with him and little Timmy.”

“Hmm...I suppose...,” Dick shrugs.

When Dick isn't looking Jason lets out a breath out of relief. Just remembering what he have to do so that it would be just him and Dick is so worth it.

 

_ Flashback (a couple of days earlier) _

_They are at Dick's apartment waiting for take out to arrive. Dick is doing yoga in the living room space while listening to music on his earphones with his phone attached to his arm. Damian is sitting on the living room couch that was pushed back to make room for Dick, reading his book all the while ignoring the adult pestering him by his side._

“ _Dang-it Damian, just do this one favor and I promise I won't ask you for anything ever again,” Jason begged._

“ _No way, Todd. I'm looking forward to this trip as well,” said Damian as he turns the page._

“ _Liar,” Jason accused, reaching towards Damian. “You wanted to stay so you can play with Titus at the animal shelter!”_

“ _Oh! I'm so excited for this trip!” Damian loudly said, getting tired of Jason bothering him._

“ _You son of a-”_

_Dick turns around to the two sitting on the couch and takes one of the ear buds out of his ear. “Did you say something?” he asked._

“ _N-n-nothing at all,” Jason answered, waving him off. Dick shrugs as this might be one of Jason and Damian's rare bonding moments before moving back to his original position away from the duo._

_Not being deterred by that interruption, Jason takes out his wallet and pulls out a 50. Desperate times calls for desperate measures._

“ _How about this?” Jason holds a fifty between his two fingers. Much to Jason's hidden dismay, Damian gave him a 'are you serious?' glance before returning back to his book._

“ _You will have to do better than that, Todd,” Damian scoffed, not taking his eyes off his book. “Grayson gives me more than that for my allowance...it will cost you...the full price of the trip to get me out of the way.”_

“ _W-What?!” This kid can't be serious._

“ _The bus fare is cheap, but the reservation will take up a majority of what you need to give,” said Damian as if he is explaining a simple math problem. He smirks seeing Jason fuming at the counter-offer._

“ _You don't want Grayson waste his money on a canceled reservation, do you?” Jason hesitated before its time to drop the bomb._

“ _Besides, don't you want to spend some quality alone time with Richard?” Damian smirked as he turns his gaze towards Dick. Jason knows he's going to regret it but he follows Damian's gaze to the center of the room._

_Yup, he regrets it. God help him._

_Dick is holding a cobra pose, from a prone position with palms and legs on the floor with his chest lifted. He could see Dick's tank top sticking to his back with sweat from his earlier workout and his yoga pants accentuated his firm posterior. He's seen Dick in many yoga poses, some of them leave him cringe-worthy yet lustful of his flexibility. He frequents to Dick's apartment so many times by now that Dick doing yoga should be a norm to him. Yet it still gets him hot and bothered. This pose is definitely his favorite._

“ _I'll get you the money by tomorrow,” Jason grumbles before reluctantly moving his eyes away from Dick._

 

Back at Gotham Damian is at The Secret Headquarters Arcade playing one of the arcade games. Grayson and Todd left Gotham a few hours ago. Normally he and Grayson would go to the arcade together and play when they both are free. Damian never got to go to the arcade when he was younger and now enjoys going there with Dick to beat all of his high scores. Moments like these, he would listen to Grayson recounting his travels in the circus while battling pixelized evil monsters to save the princess.

Today is one of those days that he would have to play alone.

He taps a couple of more buttons to jump on the floating blocks when a familiar annoyance settles his weight against the arcade console.

“Hey.”

“Drake.” Not taking his eyes off his game.

“I thought you were on vacation with Dick,” said Tim as he moves next to Damian to watch him play.

“Todd wanted a romantic getaway with Grayson so its just the two of them.”

“So in other words, Jason bribed you to stay at home.”

“Very astute of you, Drake,” Damian dryly replied as he continuous pressing the buttons to fire at the enemy's minions. “Todd already repaid the full cost of my attendance. Had I come along, I would be getting in between those two from attempting any forms of public display of affections.”

“So you gave Jason a chance to take Dick's virtue?” Tim asked with an incredulous expression.

“Please, like Todd can get anywhere with Grayson. Richard is tougher than he looks and you know he is not that easy.”

“But Jason is gonna be aggressive this time. A romantic setting without you around to butt in, who knows what could happen.”

Damian finishes up his game and turns his attention to Tim, glaring at him.

“Well I bet that Grayson will not be swayed to Todd's advances and all of his attempts at romance are useless!”

“I bet that you're wrong and Jason will finally get a piece of Dick's ass!”

 

 

Back at the inn Dick finishes unpacking his stuff, he goes to the balcony connected to his room. He steps out and stretches his arms above his head and takes in a deep breath. He leans against the railing and takes in the amazing view.

Its a good change of pace, closes his eyes to feel the breeze.

Feeling eyes on him, he looks below him for the source. He sees a tall, well built man staring up at him with an intense look. He's an attractive male between late 20's to mid 30's with thick, black hair mussed from the wind. His demeanor and furrowed expression spoke as though he is not the vacation type.

Dick doesn't break eye contact and fidgets a little from the fear and intimidation the man below is emitting, wary from the intensity of his stare. Eventually the stranger nodded stiffly at him and continues on his way.

“Dick”

Dick jumps in surprise with his hand clutching his chest to still his beating heart.

“Woah! You okay?” Jason asked as he steps back a little to give Dick some space. “I called you a couple times but you didn't respond. Anyway lets go down to the lake.”

 

 

Jason chooses a clean canoe for them to use that is not too wet from the water and the dirt. He sits on the other end of the boat and starts paddling out to the middle of lake while Dick sits on the opposite end looking out towards the water. 

“This place is beautiful and so quiet”

“Yeah, I wasn't sure when Pop Haly first told me about this place. But now that we're here, I think we're really able to relax.” 

Dick stares into the water. It's been awhile since he and Jason spent time together outside of work. And they have really come a long way than the first time they've met.

 

_ Flashback (Months ago) _

_Dick knocks on the detective's door waiting for an answer. This is his first day being transferred to this precinct and wants to make a good impression._

_Not hearing anything for a while, he softly opens the door. “Excuse me-”_

“ _You can't just do what you want!”_

_Dick was startled by the outburst as he enters the room. He sees a man who is a little bit overweight wearing a fedora indoors, at the desk yelling at the man with his back turned staring out the window._

“ _How many times do I have to tell you to stop beating perps into a bloody pulp?! You need to follow protocol...Todd are you even listening to me?!”_

“ _Yeah, I am...”_

_Seeing that this might take a while and the two didn't notice him entering the room (or perhaps didn't care), Dick clears his throat to catch their attention._

“ _What can I do for you, son?” the man at the desk takes a break from scolding his possible future coworker._

“ _My name is Richard Grayson. I was assigned to this department, sir.” Dick hands him the papers regarding to his transfer. He scans the documents before turning to Dick._

“ _My name is Detective Harvey Bullock, I am your commanding officer. Any assignment updates or issues, you will report to me or Commissioner Gordon who is out of the office at the moment.”_

“ _Hold up!” Bullock stops the man from sneaking out of his office as he is mid-step away from the door. He is not going to get away that easily._

“ _Grayson, this will be your new partner, Jason Todd. He will be showing you the ropes.”_

_Jason points to himself with an 'Is the he fucking serious?!' look. He grumbles, leaving the office with Dick trailing behind him._

 

“ _I'm Jason, Jason Todd.”_

“ _Richard Grayson,” He reintroduce again. “Nice to meet you.”_

_He sticks out his hand to shake when Jason stops walking to move to the side of the hallway. Jason takes his hand and moves in close to Dick's face. Dick leans a little bit back from the abrupt proximity, feeling a hint of blush spreading across his cheeks. The man before him is tall and possibly as big as a house stares at Dick intensely._

“ _Hmmm...you got really blue eyes...”_

“ _Huh? Oh, um, thank you.”_

_At the mention of his eyes he takes a moment to study Jason's. Contrast to his blue eyes, Jason has bright green eyes that seems to spark with mischief. Bits of freckle scattered across his nose bridge with small unnoticeable scars tracing around his face. All in all, Jason is very attractive but thats not the reason why he is blushing. There's just something about him that he just couldn't put his mind to it._

“ _So, do you have a shorter name instead of Richard? It sounds too formal for you.”_

_Dick almost misses the question as he turned away to get his bearings. “You could call me Dick. Its a shorter name for Richard.”_

“ _Dick, huh?” Dick blushes at how Jason's voice seems to get lower when he hears his name being rolled on his tongue. Jason finally moves away from Dick's personal space allowing room to breath. He needs to watch out for him because-_

“ _Hey, we're partners now! You can depend on me for anything Dickie!” Jason said obnoxiously and laughs as he shakes Dick's hand hard._

_Okay...maybe he doesn't have to watch his back. He's seems like a pretty open person, but a little bit obnoxious. He can't get a good read on this guy. Jason Todd is a mystery._

 

 

Thats what he thought when they first met, but now-

“Dick”

Jason is suddenly in front of Dick staring down at him.

“Huh?! W-what is it Jay?”

“How do you feel about me?

“H-how do I feel about you??” Dick repeated.

“You know that I really, really like you...” Jason said softly as he moves closer to Dick. Not minding that as he moves towards him, the boat starts to shake from the uneven equilibrium. Dick splutters and blush from the way he's talking to him and his eyes...

“J-Jason, b-be careful the boat will-”

Not minding the shaking of the boat, Jason doesn't lose his cool but presses on. “What about you?”

“Jason...I..” What does he really think about Jason...

“Hey, what's that?” Dick moves out from under Jason to get a better look, leaving Jason flailing his arms so he wouldn't fall of the boat.

“Dickhead!! You did that on purpose didn't you?!”

He grabs Dick from behind and puts him in a headlock, giving him a noogie. He almost fell out of the boat, that bastard!

“N-no! There's something there! I swear!” Dick choked out as he tried to free himself from the headlock.

“You liar! You're just trying to get out of this,” Jason accused as he noogies him harder.

“Damnit Jason! Just look!”

Jason stops giving Dick a noogie and looks at the direction Dick was pointing at. A few meters from them he could see something float out of the water. He focuses his vision and he could see a mass floating in the water.

It's a dead body.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour after returning to the inn, local authorities arrive to the inn and taped off the crime scene. They just finished being interrogated by the police and are sitting in the lobby watching them work.

“Urrgh, what luck. And we were on vacation too,” Jason whined, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling.

“According to the police, the victim was stabbed multiple times from behind,” Dick said. “The body must've been dumped in the lake after being murdered because the leftover air from the body made it float.”

“I guess that means they are banning us from going to the lake for awhile cuz its a crime scene.”

“Yeah, too bad...”

“Hey stop it, we're supposed to be on vacation” Jason interrupts Dick's thoughts as he pokes at his cheek in annoyance.

“Yeah, but-”

“Leave the detective work to the local police, got it?”

“Okay, okay.”

They both head upstairs to their room. They both didn't notice someone was keeping an eye on them in the back.

 

 

Later at night Jason left his room holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and two champagne glasses in another. His back leans against the door trying to calm his nerves because tonight is the night. Roy isn't here, little Timmy isn't here, Bullock isn't here, and the demon brat DAMIAN ISN'T HERE!! Results will be 100% successful.

He goes to Dick's room and knocks on his door.

“Come in.”

Jason enters and sees Dick sitting in bed playing on his phone. Dick is wearing a sky blue nightshirt with matching pants. Contrast to what he's wearing, Jason is in a white t-shirt with red flannel pajama pants. Its really adorable Jason thought, too bad its not going to stay that way for long.

“What's up?” Dick asked as he looks up from his phone.

“Want to have a little drink with me?” Jason asked, raising the wine bottle and two glasses for show.

“Sure, why not,” he agreed. “The moon is beautiful tonight, lets drink out in the balcony.”

 

Clang. “Cheers”

“Wait,” Dick paused. “What are we drinking to?”

“Oh yeah, I guess we're supposed to drink to something,” Jason contemplated. “How about to our first vacation together?”

“I can drink to that,” Dick takes a sip. “I'm kind of surprised that Bullock lets us both get a time off at the same time.”

“Well, we both worked really hard and really well together so we deserve this well-earned vacation time,” Jason replied and takes a long sip from his glass.

And that should be it. Dick wouldn't believe all the begging he had to do to get the same vacation time as him. He is very sure that his reputation might have taken a hit and his dignity down the drain. Just remembering what he did made him take another longer sip.

“Jay, about the body we found...”

“Please, not this again!” Jason complained. Although talking about dead bodies is part of their job, its going to kill the mood and ruin his vacation. But the topic did help him get away from remembering his self-embarrassment.

“Just listen, there's something I forgot to bring up during questioning. Right before we went to the lake, I saw a man standing under my balcony. He looks like he's heading away from the lake.”

“He may have been a witness. Or better yet, the perp. Why didn't you tell them?”

“I don't know,” Dick proceeds to lie down on the floor. “He has these sharp eyes that left an impression on me. I don't know how to say this but my gut tells me that he's not the perp. I guess it slipped my mind.”

Jason hovers over Dick, staring down at him. “It's odd that you'd be interested or so taken in by someone like that. You don't even know the guy.”

“You think so?” Dick tilted his head. “I thought the same thing about you when we first met.”

“I don't want you to feel the same way about him!”

“You say that but I'm not sure what you mean...”

“You're so dense sometimes!” Jason said frustrated. “I'm jealous, damnit!”

For a moment there, no one said anything before Dick started to snicker.

“What?” Dick starts to laugh a little bit harder as Jason scowled at him while looking embarrassed, he rolls away clutching his side.

“It's not funny! Sorry for being so fucking honest! Stop laughing!”

“You're not suppose to confess something like that!” Dick's laughter subsides. “I've always known that you're honest. Its one of the many things I like about you.”

Even though it annoys him that Dick is oblivious and laughs off his feelings, his honesty is one of the things he loves about him too.

Dick's lips are parted slightly as his chest rises up and lowers ever so slowly to catch his breath. Seeing Dick breathless is hard to resist as Jason proceeds to climb on top of him and kisses him.

He broke the kiss as the feeling of softness and warmth lingers on his lips. “You're awfully quiet tonight,” Jason teased, with a smug smile as he stares down at the man.

Dick pouts but looks away from Jason with a thoughtful expression. “I'm just thinking...”

“About?”

“About you. About what you want.”

“Huh?” Jason stares incredulous. He's pretty sure that he already made his intentions very clear.

“You told me before to never 'dismiss' you again. So I was thinking about what you meant.”

“Is that why you didn't stop me from kissing you?” Jason asked as he moves away, allowing Dick to sit up.

“It's not like that,” Dick reasoned but looking unsure of himself. “It's hard to explain.”

“Really its not that hard. You have multiple chances to push me away or outright say no. I would have stop and you don't have to endure it anymore.”

“Is it that simple?” Pushing Jason away? The thought never cross my mind.

“Yes it is. Watch.” Jason grabs Dick by the front of his shirt and pulls his upper body up to kiss him again. It was a long kiss that Dick grasps Jason's shirt as well just for something to hold on to. When they parted, Jason immediately lets go of Dick's shirt nonchalantly as though nothing happened, letting Dick fall back to the floor.

“Welp, you're safe from me tonight. I was originally gonna throw you down and have my way with you. But then I thought, what the hell? Let him stew over it a little.” Jason smiled uneasily.

“J-jay...”

“Anyway, lets drink up.” Jason pours more wine to his glass and Dick's. He really needed to get drunk to forget everything that happened tonight.

 

 

“Jay! Wake up! You're gonna freeze to death out here. Jay?” Dick tries to rouse Jason to get him back to his bed. Giving up, Dick heaves Jason onto his shoulder to move him onto his own bed.

“Its all your fault for downing almost the entire bottle,” Dick grumbled. “I thought we were suppose to share.”

He lowers Jason onto his bed and pouts when Jason immediately starts to snore. Guess he'll just let him crash in his room tonight. Better go snag his pillow.

Dick goes to Jason's room to get the pillow from his bed. When he left Jason's room, he hears something coming from downstairs. In the dark, he slowly moves towards the hall to hear where the sound is coming from.

“Can I help you?”

Dick jumps in surprise, clutching Jason's pillow. He sees that it's just Victor Fries, the inn's owner.

“Sorry for wandering around. I just thought that I heard something coming from downstairs.”

“From the first floor? We don't have any guests staying downstairs but we do have a nightime guest clerk. Perhaps that's who you've heard?”

“Oh, that's cool then,” Dick looks relieved. He bids the owner goodnight before heading back to his room. As they both headed in different directions, his gut is telling him that something is not right.

“Dick...”Jason groans as he clapped Dick's shoulder from behind.

“Oh, Jason. Good you're awake. Are you alright?” Dick asked as he takes a closer look at Jason who is looking a little bit too green.

“I think I'm gonna hurl.”

“What?!”

“Wheres the bathroom?” Jason covers his mouth with both hands trying to keep it in while Dick freaks out and ushers Jason to the bathroom.

  


Jason emerges from the bathroom worse for wear, muttering curses about evil grape juice.

“My head hurts,” Jason complained as he slumped against Dick for support.

“Come on now Jay,” Dick soothed as he moves Jason to lean against the wall. “I'll go get some ice for you.”

Dick walks downstairs with Jason trailing behind him. He tries to get Jason to go back to his room but he's stubborn and wants to follow Dick. Walking, he reasoned, will clear his head.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Jason suddenly slipped and fell on his butt.

“Jason! Are you ok?”

“I'm fine damnit,” Jason grumbled, trying to get up. His hand touches the floor where he slipped and feels something cold, wet even.

“Is that water or something?” Jason wondered. He tries to get up but keeps failing. Maybe its the floor being very slippery or him being disoriented from the alcohol.

“Don't know,” Dick replied as he crouches down to help him up. “Its really too dark to see. Maybe someone spilled some water or-”

“Don't move”

Both men freezes, hearing the sound of the gun's safety clicked off behind them and a bright light shining behind them. Jason couldn't move from where he was trying to get up so Dick slowly turns his head to the person behind them. He squints his eyes from the offending light shining at them. The man moves the light away from them as Dick adjusted his eyes to the dark.

“You're that guy...from this morning...”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the crack and OOC that might appear in this story later. Character tags will be added in new chapter after this so it won't spoil the story.

“You're that guy...from this morning...”

The stranger clicks the gun safety on and puts it away. His eyes doesn't leave the duo as he moves back to give them space to get up.

“Wait, what do you mean this morning?” Jason asked as he manages to successfully get up, turning to Dick for an answer.

The stranger tilts his head as a signal for them to go upstairs. Dick automatically goes while Jason hesitated for a moment as to why are they following this stranger. Seeing the man in questioned waiting for him to go first, Jason reluctantly follows Dick up the stairs. Behind them, the man directed the two to go into his room.

 

“I'm Bruce Wayne,” the man introduces. The three are sitting in the chairs of Bruce's room.

Dick finally manages to properly study the man before him. He wears a black turtle neck that hides his impressively muscular frame that might be bigger than Jason's. His steely blue eyes are sharp and piercing that shows hidden confidence and intelligence that is a force to reckon with. His strong jawline may have seen more frowns than smiles that it made Dick want to reach out and smooth it away.

“I came here on vacation much like yourselves. But I had no idea, or should I say never imagined, that there would be any officers like you around.”

Jason raises his eyebrow from that tidbit. How does this man know they are cops?

“Are the two of you aware of the situation?” Bruce continues. “A couple of people have either gone missing or murdered near the inn within the past 6 months. The corpse you two discovered yesterday is one of the many reported missing.”

“Seems more than just a coincidence if you ask me,” Dick answered slowly, not liking where this man is going with this.

“Exactly. And that is why I have been investigating the inn itself,” said Bruce. “According to the local authorities, the staff has been very helpful during their investigations. Their alibis are solid and the inn itself has nothing incriminating. Not a smudge of suspicion anywhere.”

“You're awfully knowledgeable about this,” said Jason as he stares at Bruce. His face is blank with a frown, as it feels like his eyes are looking for any hints of suspicion. “Do you try to dig up skeletons from the closet when you're on vacation?”

“Jason...” Dick warned, feeling Jason's anger surfacing.

“Wouldn't you say its a fitting game for a bored cop to play?” Bruce answered, not reacting to the underlying anger Jason is emitting. In fact, its like Bruce is almost goading him. “Besides, I couldn't possibly sit still with a potential murderer living in the same space as I am. So what do you say? Do you two want to dig up more skeletons from the closet?”

“No thanks,” Jason automatically answered as he stands up abruptly. “This isn't some murder mystery dinner theater, damnit!” Trying to keep his anger in check with his fists clenching to his side, he storms out of the room slamming the door shut.

“Jay!” Dick stands up as his partner left.

“What do you think?” Bruce asked.

Dick looks at Bruce. Although he wants to help him solve the murders, he can't help but feel appalled about this stranger's view on the murders.

“As a police officer we can't just sit around while a crime takes place in front of us,” said Dick. “But at the same time...I am in complete agreement with Jason. Police work isn't a game.”

 

With that, Dick bides Bruce goodnight and heads back to his room. He sympathizes what Jason is feeling but he needs to keep his cool or else he would do something he would regret.

Dick moves to sit on the edge of the bed. He sees Jason lying on his bed with his hands under his head, staring up at the ceiling with a pissed off expression. That man, Bruce, manages to press all of Jason's buttons and is everything that Jason hates into one-

“Its not that...”

“Huh?” How did he know what I was thinking?

“He has a point that we shouldn't just stand there and not do anything about it,” Jason said. “But...there's something about him that I just can't put my finger on... It's hard to explain but I just don't like him.”

“You better not be thinking that I'm immature right now,” Jason pouted at Dick when he sees him smiling softly. “I can totally read your face.”

“Of course not,” Dick reassured him. “But its okay to have opinions like that on someone you've just met. It shows that you're not someone who trusts people easily and that you wouldn't be you if you didn't.”

Jason stares at the ceiling but he stops pouting. Not about the thought of Bruce, but of something else. “Do you really think its okay? Why do I get the feeling that you're just making fun of me?” His brows furrowed at the thought.

Dick laughs a little. “Don't worry about. Look, its getting late. Why don't you sleep here tonight. You just puked your guts out, remember?”

Jason doesn't respond nor removes himself from Dick's bed. Without thinking, Dick lowers himself slowly to close the distance between them and gives him a nice soft kiss. Not getting a reaction, as Jason is still in deep thought, Dick moves away smiling softly down at him.

“Goodnight.”

 

Suddenly Jason grabs Dick's wrist and drags him back onto the bed. Dick is now lying on his back with Jason on top of him with a mischievous smirk, looking down at him.

“What the hell you doing?!”Dick squawked indigently as he tries to move away. “Jay!”

“Like I can possibly go to sleep when you go ahead and did something like that,” Jason replied, voice throaty and deep. His smile is sharp, showing off his canines. Fitting him as he looks down at Dick as though he's a treat.

Dick tries to twist out of the way, trying to cover his blush and embarrassment. “I-I was just biding you goodnight..”

Seeing Dick stammering and coming up with useless excuse makes him want to roll his eyes even though he's cute like that. Jason just firmly kisses him to shut the hell up.

The kiss wasn't soft nor brutal, just in between. Jason kisses him deeply, mouth hot against his as he licked and coaxed his way in. His tongue darts in to explore his warmth as Dick whines, either pushing or clutching Jason for support.

Jason finally lets go and sees how wrecked Dick looks. Dick glares up at him with half-lidded eyes and red swollen lips. As intense as that kiss was, he's still trying to leave the bed. Guess that means Jason has to try harder.

“I thought you were going to take it slow and let me sort out my feelings?” Dick tries to reason, at either Jason or himself. At this point he doesn't know.

“This is something I've wanted to do for a long time,” Jason rumbled close to Dick's face. “But don't worry you're in good hands.”

At this point, Dick is almost halfway off the bed before Jason pounces on his back, hauling him back to the bed. Dick's head fell on the pillow where Jason's head was resting earlier as he starts attacking Dick's neck. He grabs one of Dick's hand from trying to push Jason off as his other hand brushes the hem of Dick's shirt, slipping underneath to stroke against the bare skin of his hips. Dick shivers from the contact as he tries to arch away from the soft touches.

Jason sucks on Dick's neck that would leave a hickey by morning. He rolls his hips forward, pushing his legs between Dick to gain some leverage.

Dick uselessly tries to push Jason but at the same time his body aches to pull him closer. He tries to hide his whimpers and moans but he is overwhelmed by the physical stimulation. If this keeps up, he might not be able to stop himself.

 

The sound of the door clicked shut was barely noticeable but both men heard it and stopped what they were doing.

Jason got off of Dick and moved quietly towards the door. He hears whispering behind the door and quickly opens it. And out tumbles two very familiar individuals.

“Tim?! Damian?!”

“What the fuck are you two doing here?!”

Although Tim looks a bit embarrassed from being caught and from his position on the floor, Damian is in a similar position but his expression has no trace of guilt or embarrassment on his face.

“See what did I tell you? No progress.”

“No way!” Tim's embarrassment immediately disappeared. “He already has him pushed down on the bed.”

“Wait, are you two placing bets on whether I can get it on or not?” Jason exclaimed angrily at the two brats.

The boys and Jason started arguing not about how the two minors get to an upstate resort but on a relationship that might be too mature from the years and experience of younger two.

Dick stares at the group before him from his position on his bed, not getting involved in this nonsense. If anything, their interruption is a mix of welcome or unwelcome depending on the point of view.

Dick gets up with Jason's pillow in his hand and ushers the group out of his room. They are still arguing, not noticing they are exiting the room. Dick closes the door and sighs, hearing them still arguing but trailing off. Yeah, he'll just deal with it tomorrow morning.

 

The next day the four decided to have breakfast out in the patio behind the inn. They sit in a circle table with an array of breakfast laid out before them.

“How did the both of you manage to get here?” Dick asked as he puts more eggs onto Tim's plate. That kid really needs to eat more.

“You didn't canceled my bus ticket so I used that to get here,” Damian nonchalantly replied as he cuts into his pancake.

“And I used my money to buy a ticket to get here,” Tim piped up while chewing his eggs.

“You shouldn't have to do that,” Dick said, pointing at Tim with his fork. “I could have helped you pay to get here. But I'm actually more concern about the two minors who managed to make their way up here without adult supervision.” Staring at the boys for an explanation.

“I will have you know that I can take care of myself, Grayson.”

“I'm almost going to go to college. Besides, I can't stop the demon brat from going by himself. Its better if I come along so no one gets hurt.”

While Dick scolds Tim that he should be more responsible and not let Damian intimidate him, Jason is shooting daggers at Damian over the rim of his mug. Damian couldn't care less from the glares he's receiving as he continues to eat his breakfast.

“Hey, give me back the money I gave you,” Jason murmured, keeping the volume down so Dick wouldn't hear.

“I don't know what you are talking about,” Damian replied with a normal tone of voice.

“I gave you the cash so you wouldn't come on this damn trip,” Jason angrily said, his volume getting a little bit higher.

“Oh that? I cashed it in,” Damian smug as he takes a sip of his earl grey.

Seeing an angry expression on Jason's face, Damian doesn't know when to stop. “You didn't expect us to share a room with you, do you? I used the money to book another room for Drake to sleep in.”

With an evil glint in his eyes, Damian knows just how to fuel a fire. “And I will be sleeping in Grayson's room to keep harlots like you out of the way.”

He truly is a demon brat.

 

Back at GCPD Headquarters, a very familiar redhead is in for an unwanted surprise.

“What?! Dick and Jason are on vacation together?!”

Roy Harper was standing in the middle of the office with bags of souvenir. His expression looks surprised and heartbroken when Kyle told him where his missing co-workers were.

“I thought you knew? Dude its just a vacation, they'll be back soon,” Kyle replied as he goes through the souvenir bag Roy had dropped. Ohhhhh green arrowheads.

“I can't believe something this big happened while I was visiting Star City. Guess I have no choice.”

With a determined expression Roy stomped off from the office heading towards Gods know where. Probably heading for Bullock's office to beg for an extension on his vacation so he could find Jason. Not that Kyle cares, his coworkers will be back in a couple of days and he has the whole office to himself. Now he can finally work in peace without all the drama from those three. He proceeds to flick the green arrowheads into Roy's cup like paper football.

 

Its not really that bad that the brats are around. Its amusing to see Tim moping after founding out the inn's WiFi is barely usable. Dick used that opportunity to encourage the brats to enjoy the outdoors. They biked on the nature trail, played basketball behind the inn, and even tried the inn's ice cream which is pretty darn good. According to Victor Fries, he uses a special machine to make the ice cream which is why its unique than others. It gets even better when he sees Damian glaring half of the day from all the attention Dick is giving to Tim. Now that brat knows how he feels.

The only problem is that with the brats around they barely have time alone together.

Jason sneaks out of his room, clutching his pillow, making sure none of the boys are out bothering him. He stalks to Dick's room knowing Damian is going to spend the night in Tim's room, this is his second chance to pick up where they left off.

“You're drooling, pervert.”

“Whoops, can't have that,” Jason wipes the drool off of his mouth before he realizes just who the hell said that.

Fucking demon brat.

“Why the hell are you here?!”

Damian is standing in the hallway in a pair of shorts and a long t-shirt that might have been Dick's. His arms are crossed with an angry expression as he stares down the imbecile in front of him

“Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Trying to sexually assault Grayson, I don't think so.”

“I paid you so you wouldn't interfere with my plans with Dick!”

“And I made no such promise of letting you do whatever you want!”

Both Damian and Jason stand off against each other either trying to satisfy his libido (Jason) or protect his guardian's chastity (Damian). An argument is ready at the tip of their tongue when they hear a soft female voice coming from below.

Both males stopped what they were doing to listen closely to that tearful voice.

“Does the hotel have any females staying here?”

“No, its just us. Does that sound like sobbing to you?”

They both moved quietly towards the stairs to see where its coming from, not liking the ominous feeling as they went closer to the source. At the bottom of the stairs they saw a figure of a woman with long flowing hair wearing a billowing dress.

She sensed the males from above and turn towards them. They could see tears flowing down her face and sounds of sobbing coming from her without her mouth moving. But that's not what has both males nervous. As they looked at her closely, they noticed that she is transparent with no shadow of the moonlight shining down at her.

She vanishes.

The two are left standing on top of the stairs, staring at where the apparition has disappeared. After a pause they swiftly rushed up the stairs, making their way towards Dick's room. Upon destination, Jason and Damian proceeded to rapidly bang on his door.

 

“Alright already, stop banging. I'm coming.”

As soon as Dick opens the door, Jason and Damian rushed into his room. Both are out of breath and their faces were pale and sweaty.

“Guys, are you ok? You look like you've both seen a ghost.”

Oh how ironic that statement sounds.

They took a deep breath and let out a scream that they've been holding onto since seeing the apparition. Then they started to ramble what they had just seen.

“We saw a fucking ghost downstairs!”

“She is transparent wearing a long dress and crying!”

“I swear I'm not making this up because both of us saw her!”

“She was standing right in the middle of the lobby and suddenly, BAM! She disappeared into thin air!”

Seeing that both of them are not going to stop anytime soon, with an disinterested face Dick point-blankly said something that would leave both of them speechless.

“There is no such thing as ghost.”

Both stopped their rambling and looked at Dick in disbelief.

“Look, its been a long day and we did a lot of things today,” Dick reasoned, pinching the space between his eyebrows. “You both must have been tired and your mind has been playing tricks on you. I think its time for the both of you to go to bed.”

Can't believing what they just heard from someone who is more likely to believe in ghost, Jason and Damian turned away from Dick and started whispering to each other.

“What the fuck?! I thought someone as sensitive as Dick would believe in things like ghosts.”

“Even with both of us as witnesses he still wouldn't believe in something like that.”

“Isn't he part Romani or something? They believe in that stuff right?”

“Hey, what are you two whispering about?”

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Jason turned around, pointedly not looking at Dick. “Lets go Damian.”

“Where are you going Dami?” Dick asked. “I thought you're going to stay in my room?”

“I think I'll be staying in Todd's room tonight,” Damian replied, same expression as Jason. “Goodnight, Grayson.”

And they shut the door behind them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating. Was feeling down from the inevitable doom my life is going through. Hopefully this chapter will brighten people's week and give us hope when we need it.

“It's right up there, sir,” Victor said to the new guest as they headed to the inn. “We'd better hurry, it looks like we might be in for a bit of rain.”

“Thank you so much for meeting me out here,” said Roy the supposedly new guest. “I wasn't sure how to find the place, I'm not familiar with the area here.”

“It's lucky that I have a few errands to run or we would have never met,” Victor said. “Are you here on holiday?”

“Yes. Two of my colleagues have already checked in. I had some work to finish so I told them I'd meet them there when I'm done.”

“I see. I hope you don't mind me asking, but where are you and your colleagues are coming from?” Victor asked.

“Me and my colleagues are from Gotham,” Roy answered.

“Gotham?” Victor repeated, making sure what he heard is correct. “Quite a dangerous city you're coming from.”

“It's not really that dangerous. My colleagues and I are police officers so we know how to handle danger,” Roy replied, not noticing the change in Victor's demeanor. “Jason was there in the beginning and Dick has been in the force longer. I recently transferred over from Star City.”

“Interesting...”

 

 

Due to the unexpected downpour, the hiking trip Dick was planning for the group was put on hold. The party realized they needed some supplies because of the unexpected guests who may have forgotten to bring some essentials (Tim and Damian). The four needed to buy supplies and decided to choose the unlucky pair to go into town by a game of rock-paper-scissors.

Guess whose the unlucky pair.

“Aw c'mon!”

“Ttt.”

Dick laughed quietly at the pair's reaction. Originally, he was going to volunteer himself to go into town but Tim convinced him otherwise.

Tim smugly handed Jason the list of supplies.

“Lets see...shampoo, conditioner, travel hair dryer,..milk?!”

Jason turned towards Tim with a sneer. “Just so you know drinking that stuff won't help you get any taller, short-stack.”

“At least I'm going to grow taller than Dick,” Tim retorted.

“What?!” Dick spluttered as he buttons Damian's jacket. He has the average male height of 5'10, thank you very much. Not his fault Jason is taller than 6 foot.

Ignoring that outburst Jason puts on his jacket as he makes his way towards the inn's entrance. “Alright, we'll be back soon.”

“Maybe we should wait until tomorrow for the rain to stop,” Damian said hesitantly, not wanting to go.

“But I have to wash my hair tonight,” Tim reasoned as he gave Jason an umbrella. “I really don't want to keep using Dick's or else his will run out before we go back home.”

“It's fine, we won't take long,” Jason said.

Just as he opened the door, Roy walks in to the lobby with a suitcase.

“Jaybird!!”

“R-Roy?!”

“I missed you so much!” Roy exclaimed as he drops his suitcase. He runs up to Jason with his eyes closed ready for a passionate kiss.

“Wahhhh!!! W-wait a minute Roy! It's me Dick!!”

“Huh?!”

Roy paused from going any further and opened his eyes. Yep, that was Dick he almost kissed. Jason somehow pulled a switcheroo just when Roy wanted to show him his love.

And right behind him Jason was running away with Damian tucked under his arms all the while Damian is yelling at Jason to unhand him.

“H-hey Jay! Where you going?” Roy said, setting his stuff down in the lobby.

“They're going into town to pick up a few things,” Dick said, feeling awkward from the earlier incident. “Um...why don't you go with them? They might need your help.”

“That's a great idea Dick” said Roy. “See you in a bit.”

And just like that, Roy runs after Jason in the rain.

Dick sighs as Roy left. There goes his peace and quiet. It was nice when it was just him, Jason, Damian, and Tim. It feels like family bonding time. Still, he almost wishes that its just he and Jason again.

He started to blush, remembering all the stolen kisses from days earlier when it was just the two of them. If he was being honest, he wanted Jason to kiss him more.

Then he started to remember what Jason tried to do in bed.

It wasn't like he's scared of going any further, its just that he has a lot going on in his head and he wanted to sort those emotions out before going any further. Don't judge him-

“Hey Dick? What were you thinking about?” Tim asked sweetly, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, um...just thinking about how this place is going to get a little bit more exciting.”

“Uh-huh. And would you prefer it before me and Damian came or after?” Tim asked with a cat-like grin.

Dick coughed in embarrassment knowing Tim just wants to see him squirm. He decided to change the subject before he embarrass himself any further. “So what should we do now?”

“Why don't you both check out the tea room?” Victor said as he moves behind the front desk. Nobody really notices him entering the lobby because of Roy's loud presence. “It's a good time to have a mid-afternoon snacks.”

“That sounds good,” Dick nodded in agreement. He turns to Tim, who's hugging Dick's left arm. “You have anything you want to drink in particular?”

Tim starts but gets cut off.

“No you can't drink anything coffee related. It'll stump your growth,” Dick scolded playfully.

Tim unlatches from Dicks arm and pouted, crossing his arms. Ever since he got here he hasn't have a chance to drink coffee. And its all Dick's fault.

Dick smiles fondly before throwing an arm around Tim's shoulder and messes with his hair. Tim is just so adorable.

“I'll be bringing out some chamomile tea and cheesecakes shortly,” Victor said as he heads towards the kitchen.

“Thank you Mr. Fries,” Dick called out, as he puts Tim in a one-armed hug and drags him towards the tea room. All the while he didn't notice the inn owner's dark demeanor as he turns his back from him.

 

 

Stepping out of the general store, Roy is holding a bag of supplies in both hands while Jason is holding an umbrella for the both of them. Damian walks beside them with a smaller umbrella for himself.

“Todd, I'm thirsty.”

Jason fishes out some cash out of his pocket and hands it to Damian. “Get yourself some juice and snag 2 cokes for me and Roy.”

“Be right back.” Damian goes to the vending machine located near the end of the block.

Jason checks the time on his phone and sees that its only been half an hour of shopping with Damian and Roy. Their taxi wouldn't arrive until 45 minutes later.

Seeing that its raining a little bit harder, Jason gestures Roy to follow him to the library near the general store. Although the library is closed, the building's entrance has a large roof to provide them shelter from the rain. Roy moved to sit down under the entrance while Jason stands to wait for their ride.

A block away from them, Jason sees Bruce coming out of the town's police station.

“Roy wait here. I'll be right back.” Jason heads toward Bruce, catching his attention. He joins him under the building's entrance shelter.

“Bruce Wayne,” Jason closes his umbrella.

“Jason Todd.” Bruce nodded, looking over Jason expecting someone else would be there.

“I don't see your partner around.”

“He's back at the inn.” Annoyed at Bruce, got to keep his tongue shut before he said anything he'll regret.

“I see...”

“I haven't seen you around at the inn these days.”

“Well, I've been busy,” Bruce said dismissively.

“Really. Is that what you usually do on vacations?” Jason noticed the small ziploc bag Bruce is holding to his side. “What are you hiding? Is that-”

“Hmm?” Bruce holds the bag in front of Jason so he could see clearly. “Its the liquid you slipped on last night.”

“What the hell are you doing with that? Isn't it just water?”

“I had it checked out to find what it really is. My hunch is right when I found out that its a foaming agent for a compound of liquid nitrogen.”

“Liquid nitrogen? But what's it doing there?” Jason asked disbelief.

“Highly possible an agent to the murder weapon. Everyone that has ever been murdered or missing are guests from the inn. When the town did an autopsy report, they couldn't place the type of murder weapon. Most of the victim's wounds range from either impalement or frostbite” Bruce pulls out an autopsy report from his long jacket and shows it to Jason.

“Frostbite?”

“Inside victim's bodies from being impaled, there are remnants of third degree burn surrounding the wound. Some of the victim's blood are frozen suggests they were frozen to death. Their blood vessels are frozen solid and the nerve damages have been permanent,” Bruce pulls out some autopsy pictures to show Jason the victim's wounds. “Although some were not frozen when they are found, their blood's temperature are below average for a corpse. Law enforcements were baffled but some of the cases were dismissed because most of the time of death happened during the cold seasons and concluded that the guests got into an unfortunate accident from either falling into the lake or getting lost in the slopes.”

“It sounds like more than just coincidence, doesn't it? But what do all of the victims have in common?” Jason asked.

Bruce pulls out statistic results from his folder and it shows a bar graph. “Most of the victims are from Gotham. Some of them are off-duty cops neither from Gotham nor residents of this town. Everybody else are in the other category. All of them are found either before or after checking into the inn. But every single victim were guests from the inn.”

 

 

Tim and Dick are sitting on the sofa drinking tea and eating cheesecakes that are laid out before them on the coffee table. Tim animatedly talks about Bart getting into trouble while Dick listens and takes another bite of his cheesecake. Victor came into the tea room with a dining cart to collect the empty plates and eating utensils.

Seeing the inn's owner coming in, Dick has a question that has been plaguing his mind of a while.

“Mr. Fries? I was wondering if there have been any other guests staying here.” Dick asked. He hasn't seen Bruce anywhere since that time they met. Nor anyone else in general.

“Well to be quite honest, the only guests we have staying here is your party, Officer,” Victor replied as he picks up the empty plates. “Its off season now but if you were to come during the winter or summer time, this place would be packed full.”

Dick accepts that answer before sipping more tea. But he couldn't help but notice something off. “Sorry but I don't remember telling you that I was an officer.”

“I do beg your pardon but one of your friends mentioned it to me in passing,” Victor said.

Dick mused before he realizes Tim has been quiet for a while. “Tim?”

Tim moaned a bit before leaning his head against Dick's shoulder.

“Tim? Are you alright?” Dick asked as he feels Tim's forehead for a fever.

“I don't know. I just feel really tired all of a sudden.” Tim answered wearily before his whole body slumped against Dick.

“Tim!”

“Oh dear. Perhaps you should take him back to his room?” Victor peers over.

“I'll put him to bed in my room,” Dick lifts Tim from sofa under his legs and cradles him against his chest. “I'm sorry to bother you again but would you mind bringing some ice and water to my room please?”

“Which room would you like me to bring it to?”

“My room. Room 206.”

“Of course.”

 

 

“Victor Fries? The inn owner?”

“He was a cryogenic researcher for GothCorp in Gotham,” Bruce explained, reading the notes he has recorded on his phone. “A couple of years ago, his wife has cancer. On their way to the hospital, he and his wife got into an accident with a robbery in progress. One of the cop's stray bullets penetrated his wife, putting her in danger. Victor Fries tried to get the police officer responsible to help but he was ignored and even pushed aside. Eventually when the medics arrive, it was too late to save her.”

“And you think that's enough for his motive? How do you even know all of this?”

“I'm not finish yet. Victor Fries sued the police officer to be held accountable for his wife's death. But the case never made it to court and the officer walked away with no suspension or record in writing. His grief and lawsuit trouble affected his work so much that he was fired from GothCorp.”

“But what is he doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?” Jason asked, there has to be more to the story than just that.

“Maybe he just wants a fresh start. When dealing with grief, its commonly known to get out of a depressing environment and start somewhere new. It's a waste to let a brilliant mind go to waste as something trivial as becoming an inn owner but I guess he just wants someplace peace and quiet.”

Jason has more things to ask before being cutoff by the sound of his phone's ringtone. Upon digging it out of his pocket, he could see its Dick's caller ID as he swipes to answer.

“Hey Dick, did you need me to get anything else?”

“...J-Jason..”

“Tim? What are you doing with Dick's phone?” Jason asked worriedly.

“He left it in my room,” Tim tiredly answered, heavy breathing could be heard from the other line. “Jason, I think we've been drugged.”

“What?!”

Tim's breathing was heavy as he struggles trying to answer. “We were just having tea when I suddenly felt woozy. Dick took me upstairs to my room. He was waiting for the inn owner to get some ice but he was taking too long so Dick left. I don't know if Dick is affected by the drug but I'm very worried right now.”

“Okay Tim, whatever you do just stay in your room. I'm coming back as soon as I can.” Jason hangs up his phone and goes out into the rain.

“What's going on?” Bruce called from his spot from the entrance.

“I'm going back! Call the police and get them to the inn quickly!” Jason shouted as he looks around trying to find a ride. He sees someone parking their motorcycle and runs up to him.

“Sorry I need to borrow this,” Jason offhandedly shoves the person away before gunning it. The engine roared to life as it darted through the rain. Just behind him he could hear the person yelling at him to give him back his bike. But he couldn't care less.

Dick is in trouble.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe and good luck.


	5. Chapter 5

Dick is waiting outside of Tim's room, leaning against the door for Mr. Fries. He was supposed to bring the water and ice but he's taking too long.

Deciding not to wait any longer, Dick headed downstairs to find him. As he goes down, his vision started to get dizzy and his head felt like its spinning. He could hear the sound of something whirring before he instinctively took a step back immediately. Shards of ice impaled the wall from where he stood earlier.

He stares at the ice protruding from the wall. Okay, yup, that's really ice that was trying to kill him.

He heard more whirring noise in the background before he ducked and rolled away from more incoming ice shards. It helped getting his adrenaline running from near death experience but his body is still feeling sluggish.

“I must say officer, I didn't expect you to survive that.”

Dick frozed at that familiar voice as he turned around to face his attacker.

“Mr. Fries?”

Victor Fries stood before him with a sinister smile. In his hands, he carries some sort of equipment with smoke coming out from the nuzzle. On his back are two huge canisters that contains the source of where the ice is generating from.

“I'm very surprised that you are able to move around with that much anesthetic I laced your cake and tea,” Mr. Fries said as he powers up his gun. “I am very impressed. Too bad it won't get you far.”

Dick dodges away from the incoming ice blast. He deftly moved towards the lobby, knowing the furniture could give him some cover. Instinct took over as he moved his head to the left a split second late away from another incoming ice blast. His right cheek bleeds from the ice.

“You ever wonder why my inn is so popular in the winter?” Mr. Fries drawled as he lazily walked to the lobby. “It is because of my invention. I used it to freeze the lake behind the inn so the ice is much thicker for people to skate on. But that's not all it could do.”

He aimed his gun at the sofa Dick was hiding and fired ice shards at it. Dick quickly moves to the sofa next to it and leans away from the blast. The sofa he was previously hiding was in smithereens along with debris from the end table next to it. Ice splinters from the sofa and a cool mist floats around the area.

Dick eyes at the table legs. He has an idea.

“Don't take this personally, Mr. Grayson. But in general I hate anybody from Gotham or police officers,” said Mr. Fries. Dick subtly took the table legs that were scattered on the floor while Mr. Fries talks, not paying attention to Dick. “Now it doesn't mean that I would go on a killing spree but just anybody who fits into those categories and steps into my inn would get the same treatment. And you sir fit into both, what are the odds.”

Mr. Fries heard movement on his right. Immediately he used his ice gun, shooting an ice blast in that direction. The furniture and the surrounding area are frozen solid but Dick is no where in sight. Mr. Fries looks frustrated since this has gone long enough.

“Really, I feel so special.”

Suddenly a table leg hits Mr. Fries at the back of his head like a javelin, disorienting him. Dick quickly launched himself from his hiding place, holding two table legs as though they are batons and ran towards Mr. Fries. Mr. Fries shot blindly at the direction Dick was coming from. Although he misses his target, it still managed to froze Dick's left shoulder who is too close to dodge.

Gritting his teeth from the pain of his frozen shoulder, Dick hits Mr. Fries's face with the table leg and uses the other leg to hit his hand that was holding the ice gun.

Mr. Fries yells in pain, clutching his face of where he got hit. His other hand dropped the ice gun to the floor, throbbing red from the pain. Through his haze of pain, he turns his body quickly as the canisters on his back made contact with Dick from continuing his assault, acting as his shield. He blindly grabs the tube that connects his ice gun to his canisters, fumbling to retrieve his gun.

Seeing Mr. Fries trying to get his gun back, Dick decides to take a chance and acted fast. He flipped his table leg around to the sharp edge and punctures the coolant line. The tube connecting to the gun snaps and hits the ground.

Ignoring Mr. Fries panicking in the background, Dick brought down the other table leg onto the gun and smashed the gun's boiling tube and turbine. The gun is rendered useless.

Dick breathes heavily, catching his breath and sees Mr. Fries trying to contain the broken coolant line. His arm was frozen holding onto the tube along with the outer part of his leg from moving the tube away from his body. Without the gun to control the flow of the coolant agent, it freezes everywhere.

Not wanting to stick around, Dick moved to create distance between him and Mr. Fries. He slipped on the ice that was shot by Fries earlier, knocking him to the ground.

Mr. Fries aimed the broken tube in Dick's direction. The sub-cooled fluid flowed out of the tube and freezed Dick's lower body to the floor and his right arm to the wall. Eventually the fluid stops flowing from the tube, surrounding the duo in an icy mist.

Dick tries to wrench his arm free from the wall, willing his body to move. He is still affected by the drug and with half of his body frozen, it doesn't seem like he would be getting out of this mess anytime soon.

Mr. Fries stomps toward him with barely contained anger until he is only a foot or two away from him.

“You should have been dead by now and I am really frustrated as too why it is taking so long for me to kill you.”

Dick gives a shaky smirk from his spot frozen. “Well, if you used a normal weapon like guns or pointy things, your results might have been better.” He knows hes just stalling but he has to give it a try...but maybe this isn't the best way to do it. Suggesting other ways to kill him? Probably not his best idea. Besides, maybe he could convince Mr. Fries to let him go. “I'm actually surprise that you didn't come up with any ice puns while you're at it.”

“I used up all of my 'ice puns' on my earlier victims. They are much more cooperative than you,” Mr. Fries goes to his belt to pull out an extendable fire iron. He presses the button on the rod and the tips of the poker glows red from the heat. Parts of Mr. Fries's body that are frozen started to melt from the fire iron. “They actually _stick_ around.”

“Well I'm not exactly the _chillest_ person to be around.” Oh good ice pun. “But if you don't mind me asking, whats with the winter wonderland theme?”

“Years ago I used to be a cryogenic scientist from GothCorp. That is how I create my invention. I was going to make the world a better place. But the police took that away from me. They killed my wife and left her to die. I remembered holding her hand tight, trying to keep pressure on her wound, reassuring her that everything is going to be all right. Help is on the way soon. And I remember her grip loosening until she finally let go...”

He took a couple of steps back from Dick to recompose himself. He gives the rod a couple of practice swings. A red blur moves through the air before coming to a halt. Mr. Fries's voice gets louder to convey his grief.

“Do you know what that does to me?! To let something you love your whole being with just slip out of your fingers?! I sued the police officer responsible for even letting this happen but they just swept it under the rug. Later I was fired from GothCorp for my 'poor performance'. I left that toxic city to get away from everything. But it still hurts and I can never move on. I even exact vengeance on those who wrong me and it still hasn't made me feel better.”

With anger he brought the poker down hard on the block of ice beside him. It shattered violently that pieces of ice scattered, some hitting Dick and Mr. Fries but none of them flinched.

“Which brings us back to where we are now, officer. See if you weren't a police officer or a Gothamite, you wouldn't be in this mess. It's just part of their nature to corrupt everything they touch. But don't worry, you won't be alone. After I'm done with you, your partner is next.”

Dick's eyes widen, horrified on what's to come and starts struggling desperately.

_Jason._

“Goodbye Mr. Grayson,” Victor raises his rod above his head to bring down the killing blow to end Dick's life. Dick squeezes his eyes shut and turns away, praying to whatever entity out there that he doesn't care what happens to himself but begs them to keep Jason safe.

“ _Nora?!_ ”

“DICK!!”

Jason drove the motorcycle into the window of the lobby. He jumps off the motorcycle which skidded across the ice floor-right where Mr. Fries is standing. The vehicle was going way too fast for him to dodge as it impact him. Mr. Fries ended up being thrown several feet away and slammed into the front desk, groaning in pain as the motorcycle heavily landed on top of him. He won't be getting up anytime soon.

“Dick! Are you alright?!” Jason cupped Dick's face into his hands as he gently turns him side to side to assess the damages.

Dick smiled weakly “You're always one for dramatics."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Jason never left Dick's side until the authorities and paramedics came to the inn. The whole time he's been glaring at Mr. Fries for being the cause of Dick's injuries. Dick could see that Jason really wanted to beat up Mr. Fries but glad that he's holding back for his sake.

After Mr. Fries has been taken away, the paramedics and firefighters tended to Dick's injuries and unfreezing him. The process of freeing him took longer than it should that it involves ice picks, axes, and portable heaters. By the time they set him free, Dick could barely move his arms and legs from being numb in that block of ice. They wanted to send Dick to the hospital but he stubbornly refused (he's not sure if he has 'being frozen' insurance coverage).

Bruce handled the situation with the local police by giving them his findings and helping them search for evidence at the inn. Local police launched a full-time investigation on the inn's entire premises and found many of the previous victim's belongings under the hidden trap door at the foot of the stairs (coincidentally it is where Jason and Damian claimed to have seen the ghost) . The remaining inn staff members (who the inn's guests rarely saw during their stay) are under interrogation by the local police, claiming that they were neither aware of their employer's action nor his history. They had also given Dick a full refund for the trouble Mr. Fries has cause.

Dick sigh to himself from his position in his bed. So much for a peaceful vacation. His wounds are all heavily bandage from his face to his legs. He has hot pads and hot water bottles surrounding him to keep him warm, hoping that he doesn't get a cold from being frozen for too long.

“You're looking better already,” Jason commented. He brought a nice cup of hot tea which Dick graciously accepted.

“Can't say that I've been frozen before but it could have been worse,” Dick replied. Jason moved to help Dick recline more comfortably on the bed. They got extra pillows and blankets ready for him.

“I heard that you've been talking to Bruce. It seems that you're getting along with him,” Dick sipped the tea.

Jason sits on the bed, in front of Dick. “He's an okay guy but there's still something about him that I still don't like him. The way he looks at you-us, its like he knows something that we don't know. We're only lucky this time because our interest coincide.”

Jason gently takes Dick's bandaged hand, brings it to his cheek. Dick could feel his face blushing from that tender affection as he feels the warmth of Jason's face. “Jay...”

“When I got Tim's phone call, I remembered leaving you alone at the inn...I felt that my heart stopped cold in my chest.” Jason whispered against Dick's hand, kissing the bandaged cuts as though its an apology. “I came as fast as I can. And when I saw you, frozen and scared, my heart seized again. If only I stay, if only I was faster...”

He tucks his head against Dick, leaning on his shoulder. Almost reminding himself that Dick isn't lost, that Dick is still alive in bed next to him. He is not going to lose him.

Dick stares at Jason tenderly. He sets his cup onto his lap and takes Jason's hand to his face. “Jason, I was worried about you as well. When Mr. Fries said that he'll come after you next, I was so scared. Not because I was about to die but because what might happen to you.”

He moves Jason's hand to his mouth. Dick could feel tears creeping out and sucks in a deep breath before continuing.

“It was only after you save me that I started to think about all of the horrible possibilities that could have happen. What if Damian comes back and sees me dead? What if Mr. Fries goes upstairs to Tim? Just thinking about it is horrible. That gut-wrenching feeling I had back there-I don't ever want to feel it again. But thinking about what could happen to you, I was scared for you the most.”

He moves to kiss Jason on the top of his head and stays there. “Jason...thank you for saving me.”

 

Suddenly the door to their room opens as Roy barreled in like a hurricane. “JAY!! You all right?!!”

Jason jerked back from the unwanted intrusion as Roy tugged him away from Dick and shakes him uncontrollably.

“Were you hurt anywhere?! I can't believe something like this happened while I was around!! If anything ever happened to you-”

“Hey, dumbass! The only one who got hurt was Dick, damnit! Let go of me!”

Roy paused in the middle of shaking Jason as he shoved Roy away. “Oh, Dick. Are you alright?”

“Never better,” Dick replied, setting his cup down on the nightstand. He could hear more footsteps coming into the room and sees Tim and Damian entering with varying degrees of worried expressions.

“Dick! Are you alright?!” Tim asked as he moves to stand next to the bed.

“Grayson!” Damian shoved Jason off the bed to hug Dick. He holds back a wince from his injuries.

“I'm fine now, thanks guys,” Dick answered, smiling as he reaches for Tim to get in on the group hug.

Jason glares at the boys and Roy. Dang it, they were having a moment here!

“Hey Dick, can I stay here with you?” Tim asked hesitantly. “I still feel tired and I don't want to be alone.”

“Of course you can,” Dick said as he moves some of the heat water bottles away to make room. “I think I've had enough excitement for today.”

Tim grins as he kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed. He moves toward the right side of the bed and snuggles up to Dick, becoming a more comfortable source of heat. Damian ushers Jason and Roy out of the room saying Dick needs his rest before he joins Dick on the bed too.

 

 

A couple of days after vacation, Dick and Jason went back to GCPD Headquarters to return to their daily lives.

“Welcome back boys!” Donna is sitting on top of Kyle's desk, greeted them. Kyle waves at them nonchalantly from his desk as they walked into their office. “Heard you had quite the vacation.”

“You can say that,” Jason sets his stuff down on his desk and slumped into his chair. “First those brats showed up out of nowhere and Roy just 'happened by' almost ruined our vacation. And as if that weren't bad enough, some crazy psycho with an ice obsession almost tried to kill us. I think all that ice probably froze his brain.”

“Wow. An ice obsession? And I thought only weirdos are exclusive to Gotham,” Kyle remarked. “But you seemed fine to me.”

“Probably because he's the one who almost got killed,” Jason pointed across at Dick.

“Oh my- Dick your face is scratched up, are you ok?! Maybe you should stay at home to rest-” Donna moves in front of Dick to see his injuries.

“Dang you're so bandaged up, what did they attack you with?” Kyle grabs a sharpie intending to draw on Dick's cast.

“Guys, I'm ok really,” Dick trying to placate them from fussing over him. Although Gordon recommended him to stay home, he's been getting restless and wants to get back to work. After reassuring them, they backed off and moved back to their desks.

Donna piped up about some important news she just remember. “Oh by the way, did you hear about Bullock? He won't be in charge of our case assignments.”

“Wait-what? What for?” Jason asked.

“Some big shot will be in charge on our case assignments,” Kyle said. “Apparently he asked for the position personally and he's a free agent. He's got connection to the top of the food chain and he's really good friends with Commissioner Gordon.”

“Free agent? He's friends with the commish?”

“Someone with no personal ties to authorities so he's just helping out on cases because its his fancy.”

“So some nobody is gonna be in charge of all of us?!” Jason asked incredulous. He doesn't care that much for Bullock but he knows that Bullock won't stand for something like this. Bullock has principles and knows what he's doing half of the time. “What if this guy is a noob or something?”

“I saw him talking to Commissioner Gordon this morning,” Kyle piped up. “He's older than us but not as old as Gordon or Bullock. But he looks like he knows what's he doing.”

“Yeah I saw him to when I was getting my coffee. He looks really intimidating but kindof hot if you think about it,” Donna inputted with a dreamy expression. “I know Bullock couldn't be happy about this but apparently this guy's record is long and an almost 100% perfect. He must have been really good if Bullock is willing to step aside.”

Speaking of the devil, Bullock enters their office with a frowned expression seeing them lounging around 'unprofessional like'.

“All right dorks, show some respect,” said Bullock. He looks stiff but well cleaned for today. To his coworkers this is unusual on most days unless there are important guests visiting. “The new guy here would like to say a few words to you sorry lot so listen up good or else.”

He turns his head to the door he just walked in. “Right this way Mr. Wayne.”

“Wayne?!” Dick and Jason stood up in surprise at the name.

Bruce walks into the room with a black suit and tie. His stance commands attention and his eyes sparks intimidation from his gaze sweeping around the occupants of the room. His eyes lingered at Dick and Jason before staring off at the general direction.

“My name is Bruce Wayne,” he introduced. Eyes not wavering at Jason's glare. “As of today, I will be working with you all.”

“I look forward to working with you.” Bruce's eyes turned towards Dick as if that last sentence is directed only to him. Dick could feel a sweat drop from Bruce's gaze as it made him seem like the center of attention not only to Bruce but to also the rest of the occupants of the room. He also gets a feeling that Jason is glaring at Bruce and him, not discreetly this time.

This is going to get interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for getting this far. This is my first fic ever. If you're interested in this story, I'm thinking about turning this into a series and we would see more familiar characters popping up. Let me know what you think!


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